Editorial Board Guest Author

Mr. Tempelaere

Nico Tempelaere

EMEA Social Media Manager, The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

Nico Tempelaere is Belgian and speaks fluent Dutch, French, English and has a basic knowledge of German and Spanish. He lives partly in Brussels when he is not traveling abroad for his actual job. Being 39-years old he has 15 years of experience and a solid background in Marketing and Communications Management. Mr. Tempelaere started his career as a radio presenter & TV journalist. Five years later he left the media and worked for eight years as a Communication expert in several industries specializing in Travel Marketing & PR. His main customers were BCD Travel, Etihad Airways, NH Hotels, Star Alliance, CapGemini and Panasonic. He discovered social media five years ago when Mr. Tempelaere started as a Marketing Director for a travel agency. His main responsibilities were defining the strategy and execution of several off and online marketing campaigns and press relations (as spokesperson). He also created the strategy and content for the biggest and fastest growing Facebook page in the Belgian travel industry. At the beginning of 2012 Mr. Tempelaere joined The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group as the first EMEA Social Media Manager. His main tasks are the development of a social media strategy for the 400 EMEA-hotels, to inform & convince the Hotel Managers about the importance of social media, to train the future Social Media Ambassadors during the internal Business School, to deliver social media guidelines and to support all marketing campaigns & other departments (e.g. Public Relations & HR). Mr. Tempelaere is passionate about traveling, observing people in airports and hotels, networking with his international colleagues and friends and cooking for friends and family.

Author's Articles

By Nico Tempelaere, EMEA Social Media Manager, The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

Coming up in April 2018...

Guest Service: Empowering People

Excellent customer service is vitally important in all businesses but it is especially important for hotels where customer service is the lifeblood of the business. Outstanding customer service is essential in creating new customers, retaining existing customers, and cultivating referrals for future customers. Employees who meet and exceed guest expectations are critical to a hotel's success, and it begins with the hiring process. It is imperative for HR personnel to screen for and hire people who inherently possess customer-friendly traits - empathy, warmth and conscientiousness - which allow them to serve guests naturally and authentically. Trait-based hiring means considering more than just a candidate's technical skills and background; it means looking for and selecting employees who naturally desire to take care of people, who derive satisfaction and pleasure from fulfilling guests' needs, and who don't consider customer service to be a chore. Without the presence of these specific traits and attributes, it is difficult for an employee to provide genuine hospitality. Once that kind of employee has been hired, it is necessary to empower them. Some forward-thinking hotels empower their employees to proactively fix customer problems without having to wait for management approval. This employee empowerment—the permission to be creative, and even having the authority to spend money on a customer's behalf - is a resourceful way to resolve guest problems quickly and efficiently. When management places their faith in an employee's good judgment, it inspires a sense of trust and provides a sense of higher purpose beyond a simple paycheck. The April issue of the Hotel Business Review will document what some leading hotels are doing to cultivate and manage guest satisfaction in their operations.